A Good Knight's Tale
by Quicksilver
Summary: Tsukikage no Knight... a man of mystery- even to himself. The various aspects of Chiba Mamoru battle it out in this winner-take-all struggle for the life of Sailor Moon. Please r/r.


Quicksilver's Quill Offers   
A Good Knight's Tale   
mbsilvana@yahoo.com   
standard disclaimers   
Thanx to Sailor Illusions   
  
He stood in the moonlight from which he had taken his name-   
Tsukiagge no Knight. His white robes billowed around him, even   
though there was no wind to lift them. He looked at the remains of   
the battlefield with a puzzled frown on his face. What was he doing   
here? he wondered. For that matter, who was he?   
Tsukiagge no Knight leapt back up into the tree he had stood   
on when he had spoken to the short-skirted super heroine. Sitting   
down, he puzzled over the facts. What was so frustrating was that he   
knew so very little.   
Glancing towards the sky, he guessed that the sun would be   
rising very shortly. That left him little time... Little time? he   
thought. Do I turn into a pumpkin at sunrise or something?   
Her. It all came down to her. Long golden hair flowing   
around a slender body, a petite little face looking up to him with   
such hope in her gorgeous blue eyes... Sailor Moon. He must protect   
her at all costs... protect her from everything, including himself.   
The imperative nature of the thought startles him into   
speaking aloud. "Including myself?" he said. "But I would never   
hurt her!" he protested.   
Don't be so sure of that, an insidious little voice in the   
back of his mind said.   
"Never! I love her!" he argued. I love her? Nice to   
know, he thought. Wish I knew who she was exactly. Maybe she could   
help. Help what? Help me remember? he wondered, yet immediately, a   
fierce sense of rejection swept through him. No, remembering would be   
a BAD THING, he was sure.   
The sun finally broke the horizon and the form of the Knight   
dissolved like dew, slowly, yet strangely unnoticeable. Soon there   
was nothing left, aside from a few stray white rose petals blowing on   
the breeze.   
  
***   
The next time he was aware of himself, he was in a dark   
area... and there was a monster present. The Knight watched as a   
tall-dark haired man glared angrily at Sailor Moon, who was   
whimpering in fear.   
"I don't know who you are, but if you're going to fight,   
fight seriously!" he exclaimed with a combination of anger and fear.   
Sailor Moon simply wailed as the impudent man reprimanded her.   
Tsukiagge no Knight almost attacked the arrogant upstart on   
the spot. Couldn't he see how afraid she was? The Knight looked   
into the man's blue eyes and had a surge of sorrow work its way   
through him. The man shouldn't be yelling at Sailor Moon. He would   
be sorry that he had.   
The monster... he was tempted to call it a cardian for some   
reason.... attacked Sailor Moon, who merely tried to avoid it. The   
Knight couldn't bear watching her attacked, and threw one of his   
roses at the creature.   
That drew Sailor Moon's eyes to him, and the man's as well.   
"Another funny one appeared," the man said in disgust. Sailor   
Moon's reaction was more interesting.   
Her eyes widened in hope, then confusion. Tsukiagge no   
Knight wanted to ask her why she looked so upset, but didn't have the   
time.   
"Stand back!" he commanded the man, who seemed ready to   
attack the cardian by himself. "Monsters such as these can't be   
dealt with by ordinary mortals."   
Tsukiagge no Knight drew his sword, and lunged towards the   
creature that loomed threateningly over all the other people in the   
room. Quicker then the eye could follow, he gave the monster the   
trim of its life. He landed about ten feet opposite, not bothering   
to hide his super-human abilities. He sheathed the sword   
melodramatically, waiting to for the creature to fall to bits.   
Sure enough, its hair-like tentacles fell off. Tsukiagge no   
Knight was a bit too arrogant, and the creature launched an attack at   
him. He couldn't help it- he screamed.   
"Shabon spray!" a feminine voice called, and the room filled   
with mist. The knight managed to get free and watched as the cardian   
was destroyed by a combined attack from Sailors Jupiter and Venus.   
Then a strange thing happened. Out of the darkness appeared   
two of the strangest creatures the Knight could envision. They stood   
back-to-back and were compliments- the larger was male, who was   
mainly blue, while the smaller was a pink female. They were   
beautiful in an alien way, and the knight felt a surge of regret.   
They shouldn't be the enemy, but they were. Something was wrong,   
and Tsukiagge no Knight had no clue how to make things right again.   
The aliens threatened the girls, saying they would defeat the   
Sailor Senshi later. The Knight watched as they left then decided it   
was time to make his exit as well. He vanished, but his presence   
lingered long enough to catch the man ask the Sailor Senshi who they   
were.   
The looks on the Senshi's faces were sorrowful, as though   
that question had cut them to the bone. Sailor Moon, in particular,   
looked as though her heart had just been broken.   
"Poor little kittens," a voice said without sympathy.   
Surprised Tsukiagge no Knight turned to look at the figure   
that was forming out of the mists. They were in a strange place   
were darkness and light seemed to mingle, and all there was, was the   
thick mist. He turned his attention to the stranger.   
Ebony hair topped a pair of the cruelest blue eyes the Knight   
had ever seen. A strong form, muscular without being bulky, and a   
set of armor that was made from the very best materials. The man   
smiled at Tsukiagge no Knight, his handsome features gentle and   
scornful.   
"Now that was a scene worth watching!" he laughed.   
"Who-who are you?" Tsukiagge no Knight asked, disliking how   
his voice trembled.   
The man laughed, sweeping his cape out behind him with a   
flourish. "I'm another aspect of you," the man replied. "But for   
simplicity's sake, you may call me Prince Endymion."   
The Knight opened his mouth to reply, but words failed him.   
Another aspect of me? he wondered. Am I merely an aspect of   
someone? The thought was chilling, but strangely right. "So tell me,   
since you seem to know so much, just who are we aspects of?" he   
demanded.   
Prince Endymion laughed. "I don't really know, nor do I   
really care. All I know is that you and I are yin and yang to each   
other. Balance. And that must mean you love Sailor Moon as much as   
I hate her."   
The Knight drew his saber without a thought, rage suddenly   
flaring full-grown inside him. "How can anyone hate her? She's   
the very avatar of love!" he protested.   
"No, actually that's Sailor Venus," Prince Endymion mocked.   
A snarl curled the Knight's lip. "Leave Sailor Moon alone!"   
he demanded, stepping forward.   
The Evil Prince walked forward until he stood less then six   
inches away from the Knight. Tsukiagge no Knight held himself   
proudly, though everything he was insisted that he should destroy   
Endymion. "That's not an option," the dark man said. "For either of   
us... I will seek to destroy her, while you protect her. And in the   
end, only one of us can win."   
The Knight shut his eyes, unable to deny it. Kill him, an   
instinct said. Prince Endymion must die. Then his common sense   
asserted itself. "We can't kill each other, can we?" he asked   
gloomily.   
"Good boy! Then again, since you're me, you have to be   
fairly intelligent. We're the same person, and that person isn't -   
never has been- suicidal, so there's no way we can kill each other.   
The key, though, is Sailor Moon. All you can do is protect her...   
without her, you cease to exist. I just have to wait for her to   
die. So no matter how the game goes, I'll be the victor," the   
Prince said his chuckle soft and dark.   
Tsukiagge no Knight put his blade up, pulling away. "We'll   
just have to make sure the game never ends," the man in white replied   
"I look forward to it," Prince Endymion said, laughing. Out   
of nowhere he produced a black rose, which made the Knight cringe.   
The rose was his trademark, and to see it perverted was something   
that he couldn't stand. Without thinking, he produced a white one   
and threw it at the rose in Endymion's hand. The roses clashed, and   
then vanished all together.   
"That wasn't nice!" Endymion said. Then he bowed again.   
"Seems I'm already rubbing off on you." The twisted prince bowed   
mockingly, then was swallowed by darkness.   
The Knight watched him leave, perplexed. When the roses had   
clashed, he could have sworn he'd seen them combine and turn into a   
perfect red rose before vanishing.   
  
END PART ONE  
  
  



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